Porth Plaza,
Pontypridd Road,
Porth
CF39 9PG

In late Victorian times, Rhondda’s population began to grow at a rate rivalled globally only by Chicago and New York. The ribbon development stretching the length of the valley floor was a modern ‘city’ – trendy shops, entertainment venues attracting big stars, top-class sports stadia, electric tramways, chapels, libraries, cafes and pubs all squeezed between unbroken terraces of new houses. Porth – like Tonypandy, Treorchy, Ferndale and other Rhondda townships – became a major urban centre, home to the Thomas and Evans grocery empire and the Welsh Hills Works, which produced the ‘mineral water’ famously marketed throughout southern Britain as Corona pop.

For more Rhondda heritage info and stories, go to http://rctourheritage.com/heritage-home